Six More Women Accuse Russell Brand Days After Rape Sentencing

Six more women have accused Russell Brand of sexual misconduct, in a new investigation by The Times and The Sunday Times published days after the comedian was jailed for 10 and a half years.

The newspapers — the same titles whose earlier reporting features in Netflix's just-unveiled documentary "Russell Brand: Open Secret" — could not publish the accounts while Brand's criminal case was ongoing, because of the risk of prejudicing the trial.

Brand, 51, received his sentence on Monday at Southwark Crown Court in London. A jury found him guilty of three counts of sexual assault and of raping a fan who was 21 at the time, while clearing him of two further rape counts and an attempted indecent assault charge. The offenses took place between 2004 and 2009.

How did the new allegations come out?

The Times said it took "extensive steps" to corroborate the women's accounts and that none of them received payment. The paper reached out to Brand through his lawyers after his conviction. His lawyer reportedly mentioned the possibility of "injunctive relief" but sent no answer to the claims, even after being granted more time.

Brand has denied wrongdoing in the past and has insisted that all his relationships were consensual. He did not respond to the new allegations.

The accounts stretch from 2005 to 2015. Here is what each woman described, according to the papers.

• 2005. A woman then in her mid-20s said Brand approached her that year. "Please I just need to have sex with you, I will pay you," she said he told her.
• 2006–2007. After winning a BBC 6 Music competition, a woman then in her late 20s appeared as a guest on Brand's show. The pair saw each other on and off over the following year. She said that at one point he demanded she lick a toilet seat in his home. When she refused, "[He] seemed pissed off that I wouldn't let him humiliate me," she said.
• 2007. A third woman was 19 when she lined up with a friend to meet Brand. She said that when they later had sex, she told him it was painful and asked him to stop, but he did not. She said he insisted afterward that the night had been consensual.
• Late 2000s. Another woman said she and Brand had an on-again, off-again relationship that began with a work meeting at his London home. On one occasion, she said, she realized he had no condom on, asked him to stop and tried to pull away but could not, and decided not to fight him. She said he later apologized to her, in person and by text.
• 2013. A fan in her late 20s met Brand after he played The Chapel in San Francisco. She said he handled her roughly and pushed his hand down her pants.
• 2015. A woman employed at a London venue where Brand was a regular said one of his staff told her Brand wanted her and was waiting in the disabled toilets. She said the lights were off when she went in, and that Brand — who claimed he needed toilet paper — grabbed her as she passed it to him.

What does this change for the investigation?

The Metropolitan Police said that during and since the trial it has heard from several people, some offering further information and some reporting potential crimes, and that detectives are assessing what they received. The force confirmed after the verdict that it is investigating rape allegations from two further women.

Met chief Mark Rowley said he "wouldn't be surprised" if more victims came forward.

The case is also pressing on the media industry. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has called on the media industry to "look at itself" and "step forward" in protecting women and girls, following Brand's conviction and separate allegations against comedian David Walliams that emerged from a joint Guardian and ITV News investigation. Walliams has rejected the claims.

The first allegations against Brand surfaced in 2023, in a docuseries made by The Sunday Times with Channel 4's "Dispatches." Until then, he was known chiefly for his comedy and for film roles in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Get Him to the Greek." With Netflix's documentary now unveiled and detectives assessing fresh reports, the full scope of claims against Brand may still be emerging.